Solids such as silica gel and alumina normally have hydroxyl groups. U.S. Pat. No. 5,017,540 (Sandoval & Pesek) discloses the preparation of a silica surface with surface silicon hydride groups by replacing the normal hydroxyl groups. One way of modifying a surface of an inorganic oxide is to convert the normal hydroxyl groups to surface hydride groups by reaction with a silane such as trichlorosilane. Reaction of trichlorosilane and silica gel surfaces at elevated temperatures was reported in Kol'tsov S. I., Aleskovskii, V. B., Russ J. Phys. Chem., 1967, 4, 336.
It would be desirable to provide an efficient, well-controlled method of depositing metal with a valence of zero on a solid normally having hydroxyl groups, the metal film produced providing a clean surface for chemical reactions and the metal film being a catalytic film.